


Maybe, one day?

by Dark_Titanium



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Age Gap Switch, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, F/M, Scott as a hopeless romantic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Titanium/pseuds/Dark_Titanium
Summary: In which Scott is hopelessly in love with THE Tessa Virtue, the most beautiful, brilliant senior in his school.





	1. Wow, she knows I exist??

**Author's Note:**

> Hi gents!! This has been sitting in my drafts since like Christmas... oops, and I thought I would finally post it! It's based off of the novella 'Flirting with maybe' by Wendy Higgins, so if you'd like an idea of where this will go feel free to read it, its really cute and short! I will be deviating a bit from the exact details of the story to make it fit but overall it should follow a similar storyline!! Sorry if theres some grammatical errors and overall wordiness, I really tried but I am a bit garbage at editing and I have found I am just sort of a wordy person when I write and I have no idea how to fix this so RIP! Hope you guys enjoy! Let me know what you think, if I should continue!! :) :) :)

The first time he lays eyes on her he knows. Tessa Virtue is by far the most beautiful girl he has ever had the pleasure of gazing upon. Bright, captivating green eyes and long flowing dark hair, he really does not understand how she is single. But it’s not just her beauty that attracts him, it’s her personality too. She is small but her presence fills a room easily. Sometimes she is quiet and closed off, but she is also fierce and fiery when she needs to be. More than anything, he knows that behind those innocent doe eyes there lies a secret deviant and he only wishes he could know her. 

He wouldn’t exactly call himself obsessed with her, because he’s NOT! He just has a little crush. It may be a little crush that frequently causes him to walk into walls and crash into lockers whenever she floats by, but it is a little crush nonetheless. 

His friends tease him about it mercilessly, and it drives him insane. He is quite aware of how inadequate he is for the perfection that is Tessa Virtue, but he does not need to be reminded of it constantly. He knows he hasn’t hit puberty yet (it is absolutely KILLING his hockey career) and that in the grand scheme of things he is lower than low, the very bottom of the food chain. He is uncomfortably aware of these facts. In the end, he is sixteen and she is seventeen, he is two grades below her and he knows he has no chance. 

So imagine his surprise when one day she approaches him in the hall as he is grabbing books from his locker. He’s been trying to think of different places she could be going for a few minutes now, because there is absolutely no way Tessa Virtue is walking towards him. There is no way she would associate herself with a lowly freshman like him. And yet, she comes to a full stop next to him at his locker. 

She doesn’t tower over him, but there is a small height difference. It kills Scott inside because he knew it was there, but he didn’t need it confirmed to him with a direct comparison.

“You’re Scott Moir right?” She asks, kindly ignoring the fact that his mouth must be wide open like a fish out of water. 

Scott is so shocked by the question and the girl herself and the fact that she is there in front of him in the first place that he doesn’t quite believe it's real. That is what he will blame his idiotic response on. 

“No.” 

“Oh. I’m so sorry, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.” Then she is turning around, about to walk out of his life forever and he realizes that he has to get his shit together. Now. Where is the Moir charm his mother loves to tease him about, why has his extroverted-ness forsaken him now? 

“No, no wait! I’m so sorry yes, yes that’s me. I’m Scott,” he says and violently thrusts his hand out for a shake. Tessa is now looking at him like he is insane. 

“You’re absolutely sure you’re Scott Moir?” She says shaking his hand with a perfectly arched eyebrow and a laughing smile. And holy shit. He is touching Tessa Virtue. Her hands are small and soft in his grip, the backs covered in small freckles against her creamy skin. After a few moments he pulls his hand away for fear of it becoming sweaty, and disgusting THE Tessa Virtue. By this point his face is fire engine red and he nervously runs his hands through his hair before finally replying, “Yeah, thats me.” 

Tessa continues to smile at him despite his nonsense and he is relieved he hasn’t made a complete fool of himself. 

“Well I just came over to congratulate you on making the hockey team! I saw you guys practicing the other night and you were great,” he must look confused because she rushes to explain her presence at the game, “I write for the school paper, the sports section, so I cover your games a lot and I like to familiarize myself with the players. I also play assistant coach on occasion, so I’ll probably be seeing you around a lot from now on.” 

“Wow umm, thanks. I’ll look forward to seeing you…”

“Tessa, Tessa Virtue,” she says with a wink before turning on her heel and disappearing down the hallway. He watches her go, basking in the entire experience for as long as possible. The embarrassment doesn’t hit him until he’s walking down the hall towards French class. 

“I look forward to seeing you, oh my god Scott what are you writing an email or something,” he mutters to himself as he enters French. He is very happy he didn’t refer to her by name and sound like a complete stalker, that is his only saving grace. But even his own idiocy can’t keep the smile off of his face for the rest of the day. Tessa Virtue spoke to him, voluntarily and she knew who he was. 

On days he has hockey practice, Scott stays after school and finishes up homework. He does this not because he wants to or finds it enjoyable, but because his entire family works until at least six most days. There is no time for someone to take him home and then to hockey practice later on. So he stays and Coach Michaelson takes him to practice after he finishes up his work at school. Everyone else on the team can already drive so Scott is both the odd man out and the youngest member. He is fine with this, as long as he gets to play hockey he really doesn’t mind. 

It is a nondescript Tuesday and he is waiting in the foyer, french book open, for coach Michaelson to appear when Tessa walks by. He knows she often stays late, she’s a part of both the journalism and the leadership club, but she usually exits through the back doors. He knows this because he actively avoids her at these times. He would rather not face the embarrassment of having Tessa Virtue see him waiting for a ride to hockey practice because he can’t drive. He would like to avoid reminding her of their age gap at all costs. As such he is quite surprised to see her when she waltzes by and evidently so is she, her face expressing a mix of shock and confusion. 

“Scott! What are you still doing at school, you have practice in,” she flips her wrist up, glancing at her watch, “a half an hour.” 

After a long inward sigh where he debates several hundred different reasons for being in the foyer a half an hour before hockey practice, he finally acquiesces and tells her the truth, “Coach Michaelson drives me, so I’m waiting for him. He should be here any minute now.”

Tessa pauses for a moment, her face twisting in confusion before she replies, “No he won’t. I saw him leave out the back door like an hour ago.” 

This, for Scott is the final nail in the coffin. He is not only in the school foyer talking to the most beautiful girl in school while he waits for his (super uncool) ride because he cannot in fact drive, no, of course said ride had to have forgotten about him too. Now here he is, ditched, with no ride to practice and an entire bag of smelly hockey gear next to him. What could possibly be worse? 

At this point, Tessa has connected the dots that Scott will not be making it to hockey practice without a teleportation device or wings and she is giving him a pitying look. He just sighs, wishing the floor would swallow him up into the pits of hell, he’s basically already there. Tessa bites her lip in thought, a look of hesitation crossing her face before she finally seems to make up her mind. He has no idea what she’s debating in that brilliant head of hers, but he wishes he had a glimpse. 

His wish is granted a few moments later and he has immediate regrets. 

“I’ll take you to practice.”

It is said with such certainty that Scott almost complies. Then he actually thinks over the sentence and blurts out, “What!?”

“I’ll take you to practice, it's really no problem Scott. The rink is on my way home and I was just leaving now.” 

“That’s so kind of you Tessa, but you really don’t have to.” He replies. 

As much as Scott would love to be in an enclosed space with THE Tessa Virtue for any period of time, he would prefer it not be because he is basically a child who doesn’t have a ride to hockey practice. While Scott feels as if he’s going to spontaneously combust on the spot with all the thoughts running through his head and the overall proximity to Tessa, she has been getting impatient. 

Tessa Virtue is well known throughout the school for her beauty, kindness, grace and brilliant mind. But she is also known for her complete and utter refusal to take shit and it seems Scott has brought this out in her now. 

“Scott grab your stuff and follow me, I’m taking you to hockey practice.” She says assertively with no room for disobeying. It concerns him that he finds this quality, so attractive, she could probably tell him to rob a bank and he would. He almost responds with “Yes m’am.” Thankfully he manages to switch it to a much more acceptable and meek “Thank you Tessa.” 

He follows her dutifully to her car, a little black Volkswagen Bug that looks like it's had its fair share of love. There are some scratches on the side and some minor dents but overall the little car suits Tessa quite well. 

Unfortunately Scott notices a problem immediately and he stops dead in his tracks right behind the trunk of the tiny vehicle. Tessa who is submerged deep into the car, attempting to shove her belongings into the back has not noticed quite yet. It appears she has stubbornly refused to actually move the front seat and has instead twisted herself around it, choosing to form a human pretzel. When she finally manages to extricate herself from the car she looks a bit winded and it's adorable. This is quickly replaced by her displeased expression as she notices he has not moved from his spot behind her car. 

“Scott, what are you doing standing around? We have to leave now if we want to get you to practice on time!”

“I just think we have a bit of a problem.” 

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me you can’t get the trunk open, it’s not that difficult.” She says with a rather exasperated sigh before walking over to him. 

“No, no it’s not that. I just don’t actually think my hockey bag will fit.” He says rather quietly, he feels quite bad about it, she had been so kind to offer him a ride.

“Don’t be ridiculous Scott, it’ll fit.” He must give her a rather incredulous look because she lets out an impatient huff before snatching the handle of his bag from him. 

“This bag is going in the car one way or another.” She asserts. 

It takes about fifteen minutes, but after a lot of finagling and some rather choice expletives he had never dreamed of hearing Tessa use, they finally manage to get the bag into the trunk. At one point, Tessa is basically sitting in the trunk on top of the hockey bag as they try to push it deeper so the trunk can close. It is in this moment that Scott’s love for THE Tessa Virtue is reaffirmed. 

There had been a very small part of him that had been afraid she wouldn’t be as brilliant in person and he thought her to be. He had been concerned that the real Tessa Virtue would never measure up to the one in his head and that everything he believed about her would be a lie. But the real Tessa Virtue is better than the one everyone knows, the pretty, popular girl who is the teacher’s pet. This Tessa Virtue curses like a sailor, and has attempted to punch his hockey bag into submission. When she slams the trunk shut, their is a crazy gleam in her eye, and he knows she is counting this as the biggest victory of the day. 

“You owe me ten bucks Moir!” She says with a smirk as they walk to their respective sides of the car, Tessa looking as though she has just won a battle, hair askew and a devilish gleam in her eye. 

“What for?” He asks in indignation, he is a broke high school student and as much as he loves her he can’t afford to pay her ten dollars right now. 

“I got the bag in the trunk and you didn’t think I could!” She says as she starts the car, backing out of her parking spot. 

“We didn’t bet on that!” 

“No, but it was a struggle so pay up Moir.” She grins his way as she checks both directions before turning out of the parking lot. 

“Tell you what how about I buy you ice cream one day instead?” 

And there is the Moir charm making its appearance! Scott is thrilled that he managed to sneak that into the conversation. Tessa looks over at him slyly, “Are you asking me out on a date Moir?” 

He can feel his cheeks colour beet red, in all of his day dreams he had never gotten to the actual asking Tessa out part, what is he supposed to do now? He ends up replying with a very unflattering “Umm, ugh” before Tessa saves him with her laughter. 

“Relax Moir I’m joking, but sure you can take me out for ice cream.” 

Scott is left unsure whether to count this as a win or not because he has somehow managed to get Tessa Virtue to go out with him, but he may also have been friend-zoned in the process. Either way watching Tessa laugh her big booming laugh, he is the happiest he’s ever been and he vows that one day he will marry THE Tessa Virtue.


	2. The Starbucks baristas know me by name!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... I may or may not have thrown a hairbrush at my bed a few weeks ago and that hairbrush may or may not have slammed into my laptop and killed it.... But ItS FiNE! it will be fixed eventually so for now I have been using my old garbage laptop which is super slow and shuts down quite frequently so im really sorry for the delay guys! Wanted to have this update much sooner!!! Anyways enough with my garbage excuses! This is kind of a sappy and emotional chapter I think so have fun with it! Its pretty unedited cuz my other garbage computer doesn't have word so pages has been editing my work and its quite shit at it so yeah hopefully theres not TOO many glaring errors. ALSO!! Plz don't ever worry that I won't complete this story, like motherfucker I LOATHE incomplete stories they are my biggest pain as a reader so it might take me fuckin forever but THIS WILL BE FINISHED!!!

After Tessa drove him to the rink that first time, it became a regular thing. At first he thought it was a coincidence, every Tuesday and Thursday she would mysteriously appear around four o’clock in the foyer to take him to practice. So, like an idiot, the first time she’d appeared he’d waved exuberantly to her and said a cheerful goodbye, thinking she was just going home. Of course this resulted in a rather unimpressed look before she had explained to him that she was taking him to practice duh! He’d sheepishly gotten up and followed her to her car after that. To this day he still wonders why on earth THE Tessa Virtue is driving him to hockey practice every day but he most certainly isn’t about to complain. 

Those car rides became his favourite part of the week and possibly Tessa’s too, at least he hoped they were. She started leaving her leadership meetings earlier and earlier until she was appearing around three o’clock instead of four and they were going to Starbucks (Tessa’s choice) before practice and just hanging out. There, she would order a new complicated drink every time and they would fight viciously to pay for it. Scott was quite pleased to report that he often came out victorious, even if it was just because the baristas pitied him. Apparently it was quite clear to all of them what a lovestruck fool he was and they often wrote notes of encouragement on his drinks to his embarrassment. Every day he thanks the lord Tessa has never noticed because if she did he really would just die on the spot. 

At first their Starbucks hangouts were meaningless chatter where she would tease him, he would blush and she would laugh, ruffle his hair and call him cute. But he started to learn things about Tessa, small things that weren’t important like her favourite hockey team (the leafs, thankfully) and her weirdest habits (she likes to put ketchup on everything) which he found adorable for some reason. 

Sometimes after grabbing their drinks they would venture out on scenic drives before heading to practice and they would just talk for as long as they could before practice began. And with every fact about her Scott fell more in love which was quite problematic to him because he still knew in his heart he had absolutely no shot with THE Tessa Virtue. He really had no clue why she liked hanging out with him at all. 

And so, on one particular Thursday he asks, “Hey Tess, why do you hang out with me after your leadership meanings end? I mean I love hanging out with you but why don’t you just go home after?” She’s silent for a while and he worries he has upset her, which he absolutely could not have and he begins nervously babbling about hockey stats. Tessa cracks a soft smile at this, clearly she could tell he's a nervous rambler. Finally she puts him out of his misery and answers, “I’ve actually been having kind of a hard time at home lately, so I don’t like to be there that often.” 

“I’m so sorry Tess, I shouldn’t have asked.” 

“No, no it’s totally fine Scott! It's actually nice to have someone to talk to about it.” She replies with a tight smile, her fingers nervously gripping the steering wheel as they stared out at the park they were parked at. 

“My parents recently went through a divorce and the house has just been really lonely I guess. Both of my brothers have families of their own so they’re not really around much and my sister is in Toronto for school so I don’t see her either.” 

A lone tear leaks down her face and he wants nothing more than to reach out and wipe it away but he isn’t sure if he has the right. 

“My dad left entirely, haven’t seen him in a few months now,” she says bitterly, “and now my mom works all of the time. So whenever I get home its just me and I hate it. There’s always just this deafening silence.” He nods along, and feeling brave he reaches his hand out to hold her own which are now crumpled into fists at her side. 

“I’m from a family of six Scott, there should never be silence in my house.” 

He is shocked at this new information, Tessa had never mentioned this before, he had always just assumed she had a good home life. After a few moments Tessa links their fingers and he gives her hand a squeeze in return. He knows he should say something but he really has no idea what to say, he has no idea how she feels and never could. He settles for a murmured “I’m so sorry Tess.” 

She sniffles a bit and waves him off, “It’s fine, I’m used to it now.” Which definitely does NOT make him feel any better about the situation. 

Tears continue to leak down her face and he really wishes that he had a handkerchief on him like one of those guys from those old movie romances. He is quite sure Tessa would fall in love with him immediately, she has already confessed to having a small obsession with victorian era films and books. The hand that is not preoccupied with holding Tessa’s reaches into his backpack and comes up with an old sweater of his that will have to suffice. 

Rather awkwardly he bunches it up and attempts to wipe the tears to her face and the result makes Tessa burst into laughter as he ends up smothering her with it. Although he has failed miserably at his original task Tessa’s giggles more than make up for it as she snatches the sweater from him and wipes her face herself. 

“Thanks Scott,” she murmurs and he blushes madly in return. 

“Tess I really didn’t do anything except attempt to smother you to death with my sweater.” 

“Not that you dork!” She says giving him a light smack, “Just for everything, no one else is willing to listen to me ramble away like you do and when they do they always judge me. But not you.” She finishes with a soft smile. She’s so beautiful in that moment he is mildly concerned he is going to melt into a puddle of goo and slide down the seat. The sun is setting behind her window and it gives her an ethereal glow reassuring him the THE Tessa Virtue must be an angel because there is no way anyone human is allowed to look that perfect. And she is looking at him too, gazing so adoringly he really doesn’t know what to do with himself. 

“I could probably tell you anything and you wouldn’t tell anyone would you?” 

He shakes his head vehemently in reply and she giggles again, still smiling. 

“You’re truly such a great friend Scott, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

And theres the cold water he’s been waiting for. The word friend is like a gunshot, his brain screaming RED ALERT, FRIEND ZONE, FRIEND ZONE, STAY AWAY! He smiles halfheartedly at her in reply. She suggests that they should probably get to practice and he reluctantly pulls back from her. They spend the rest of the car ride in companionable silence, him forcing himself to accept his cemented position in the friend zone instead of the end zone that he’d wanted. 

As he’s exiting the car and dragging his hockey bag towards the entrance of the rink Tessa rolls down her window and motions for him to come back. Leaving his hockey bag in the middle of the sidewalk he returns quickly, wondering if she needs something. When he bends down to hear her speak he’s met with a pair of soft lips to his cheek and afterwards a mischievous grin.

“See ya later Scottie!” 

The nickname, from anybody else would earn them a solid smack but from Tessa all he can do is smile dopily as he watches her drive away. 

 

Scott is unfortunately quite familiar with the notion of locker room talk, you can’t exactly play hockey in Canada for as long as he has and not be familiar with it. So he is unsurprised when he walks into the locker room after a particularly great day (he hung out with Tessa) and an even better practice (Coach had called him a ‘champ’) to hear his teammates talking about some new girl. 

From what he can gather, the lead defensemen and one of the best players on their team, Devon is seeing some girl from school. She sounds very beautiful from what they are describing and Scott wonders if she could compare to Tessa, before banishing the thought immediately because no one was prettier than THE Tessa Virtue. The entire idea was absolutely ridiculous. 

However, he does feel quite awful for whichever girl it is they are talking about because Devon is currently giving a disturbingly detailed account about how he had almost gotten into her pants last Thursday after school in the parking lot. 

Come to think of it Tessa had passed on hanging out before practice last Thursday, claiming she had to stay late at leadership club. The horrifying realization dawns on Scott just as Devon says her name, “Tessa’s totally easy, I’m definitely banging her this weekend after the movies.” 

And just like that, without thought or reason Scott turns around, to do what he’ll never know, but there must have been murder in his eyes because another teammate, Brandon almost immediately rushes in to hold him back. He may be small but Scott is one hundred percent willing to put himself on the line in defence of Tessa’s honour. 

“Don’t talk about Tess like that Devon.” He practically growls, surprising even himself at how ferocious he sounds.

“Why? Have a little crush on our assistant coach there Scottie boy?” 

Scott doubles his efforts to launch himself at Devon but he is interrupted by their coach walking into the locker room. Although coach must notice the predicament his athletes are in he chooses to ignore it, “Hurry it up in here boys, I’m not allowed to leave until all of you are gone. My wife is making spaghetti for dinner and I am not missing it because you guys can’t get it together. Be out in five or you’re all going to be doing lines next practice.” 

Coach disappears the same way he came in and everyone settles down immediately and starts hurriedly getting dressed. Scott is not keen to forget this little episode but for now the incident has been laid to rest with his teammates so he grabs his bag and leaves. But not before giving Devon one last lingering look of promised murder because no one insults THE Tessa Virtue in his presence and gets away with it. 

 

At school the next day there is something lingering in the air, students whisper everywhere and exchange secretive glances and he wonders if maybe word about his almost fight in the locker room had gotten out. Unfortunately as a lowly tenth grader he is not privy to whatever gossip hits the halls, not until Jenny at least. 

Jenny is a rather rambunctious and outgoing blonde in Scott’s grade, one that he usually avoids because for some insane reason she has a crush on him (He seriously can’t comprehend why). She is anxiously bouncing up and down at Scott’s locker as he goes to change his books for his dreaded French class. He is absolutely terrible at the language, all he can do is order a beer in French and this is NOT appreciated by his teacher. Although Scott is not exactly excited for the interaction that awaits him with Jenny he figures he might as well get something useful out of it and attempt to figure out what’s going on.

“Hi Scott!” She says too perkily. It is eight in the morning, no one should be this peppy. 

“Hi Jenny,” he replies, significantly more subdued. 

“So you know how Winter Formal is coming up, I was just wondering if you’d like to be my date?” She says quickly, a blush lighting up her cheeks and her voice much softer. If Scott wasn’t in love with Tessa at this point he might have said yes, Jenny was cute and sweet despite her over the top peppiness. Unfortunately though, his heart belongs to Tessa and it doesn’t look like it's going to change any time soon. 

“I’m so sorry Jenny but I don’t think I can, I’m actually thinking of asking another girl.” He replies sadly, he really does feel bad for Jenny she’s a sweetie and she deserves better than this. It is at this exact moment that Tessa herself practically sprints by them, hair a mess and hands covering her eyes. Scott, who is practically a blood hound for any and all things Tessa Virtue goes on red alert, Tessa is upset and Scott can’t have this AT ALL. 

Jenny must notice his stare because she turns around and notices Tessa too, right before she makes a B-line into the girls bathroom. 

“Is it Tessa? Is that who you like?” 

He doesn’t reply but his silence is condemning enough because Jenny just nods to herself before speaking again, “You should probably go and see her then Scott, rumours have been going around all morning that she slept with Devon on your hockey team. Everyone is saying she’s a slut.” 

He can’t do anything more than gratefully thank Jenny before speeding towards the girls bathroom, for once thankful for his height because it allows him to squeeze through the throngs of students trying to get to class. 

When he arrives he is hesitant to open the door, what if there are other girls in there? He’d rather not be expelled for being a pervert, but then he hears the gut wrenching sobs coming from the other side of the door and there is no longer a decision to make. Bursting through the door he spots Tessa immediately, curled up next to the sink in the far corner next to the paper towels. 

“Tessa?” He murmurs but she doesn’t even glance his way just continues to cry. He locks the bathroom door and quickly plops himself down next to her, tugging her close. She must realize its him because she goes willingly into his arms, sobbing harder and burying her head into his shirt. 

Despite getting to know Tessa quite well these last few months, Scott realizes he had still held her high up on a pedestal way above him. He had still thought of her as THE Tessa Virtue even though he had come to realize she was flawed and just as human as he was. She has family problems and expectations to live up to just like any other kid. She is not THE Tessa Virtue, she is just Tessa, Tessa Virtue, high school student and assistant hockey coach. She is not unbreakable, in fact in this moment she seems particularly fragile as she attempts to combat the hells of the high school rumour mill and the bullying that comes with it. All he can do is hold her closer and let her know that he’s there, and he does. 

He may come home to a frantic mother who has called the entire family phone tree in search of him and a rather stern lecture about skipping school but its all worth it. It’s worth it when Tessa drops him off hours after school has ended, a smile on her face and the red rims around her eyes slowly fading, the rumours that had plagued her earlier completely forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!! Let me know what you think, its very motivating! Also feel free to be like hey girl can you update you said you would if its been a while because I need the reminders! NEXT UP THO should be post-puberty Scott and im freakin excited! If u guys wanna yell at me on tumblr feel free, I am Iwanttolaunchmyselfintothesun which is fuckin long but its my mood with these 2 ice dancers.


	3. Winter Formal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH! I am so sorry it took me so long to update friends, I really am the worst!! I wanted to get this out like so long ago but the writing bug hasn't really struck me lately. I also kinda screwed up the timeline so I was finagling that around a bit but finally I finished a chapter! :D I hope those of you that are still around like it!

Scott heads to school bright and early the next morning, going so far as to make his mom drive him. She gives him confused looks the entire drive because even though Scott has always been a morning person, he is still a teenaged boy and therefor will take every ounce of sleep he can get and there is absolutely no reason he should be up this early on a school day. 

He has also come armed with as many sweets as he could get his hands on. He had stayed up late after his lecture baking his mom’s famous double chocolate chip cookies, brownies and even some rice Krispy squares. His mom definitely thinks he’s insane or she suspects there’s a reason for his strange behaviour, but she is wise enough to know when not to pry. 

When he finally arrives to school, he finds Tessa exactly where he expects her to be, in the journalism club room working to catch up on all of the work she missed yesterday. Her eyes are still a bit red rimmed and she looks exhausted, but she is still beautiful, nonetheless. He takes a moment to smile softly and observe her from the door before she notices him. 

She is wearing her lazy clothes which consist of adidas track pants and a tank top that ties at the waist that has definitely seen better days. He probably should not know Tessa Virtue’s lazy clothes from her regular clothes, but he has spent far too much time observing her in his short high school career. He would rather die than let her know how many hours he has spent just looking at her, taking in all her little nuances, it’s really bordering on stalker-ish at this point. Tessa is clearly to engrossed in her work to notice him, that is right up until he sets his box of treats onto the desk in front of her and she is jarred out of her daze. 

“Oh! Hi Scott.” She says with a small smile before asking, “What’s in the box?”

He opens the box in reply, and he can practically see Tessa’s eyes turn into hearts as she drops her pencil and snatches a brownie. 

“Oh my god Scott. I love you, truly, I love you so much these are amazing.” She manages to get out around bites of brownie and although the expressions of ‘I love you’ are a lot for his teenaged heart all he can do is grin as he watches her grab as many goodies as possible. Only Tessa could make stuffing her face with brownies cute. While Tessa munches on the goodies he’s brought in he takes the seat across from her. 

Although he does not exactly want to broach this particular topic of conversation, as Tessa’s friend, he has to do it for her. 

“So, how have you been holding up?” 

This stops Tessa’s munching all together and she sighs and pushes the box of goodies away. It takes everything in Scott not to reach over and wipe the brownie crumbs from her face as she finally becomes serious. 

“I think I’m doing better, I’m over the rest of the school thinking I’m a slut, I really don’t care. Thanks for that by the way, you really are such an amazing friend Scott, I couldn’t have gotten through that without you.” She says, reaching her soft hand across the table to grab his own calloused one. 

After a moment she continues, “The worst part is really that I don’t have a date to Winter Formal anymore. I’m not sure if you’re completely aware of what happened the other day, but you know Devon from your hockey team?” 

Scott gives a quick terse nod in reply, hoping she will continue quickly, he needs to know the inside Tessa story so he can possibly beat up Devon if need be. 

“Well, he and I were kind of seeing each other. The plan was to go to Winter Formal together and maybe grad but instead now the whole world thinks I’m a slut and I’m out a date to Winter Formal for my senior year. It just really sucks.” Tessa finishes with a depressing sigh and he watches her deflate as she contemplates going to her last winter formal alone. 

Scott is quite aware that Tessa, slut or not could easily have any guy she wanted, but it seems that Tessa herself is woefully unaware of this particular fact. At any other time, Scott would happily spend hours waxing poetic about how brilliant she is and would let her in on this little secret that she really could have any man she wanted but in this particular case he is loath to let this opportunity pass him by. So… Scott Moir does the boldest thing he’s ever done and asks Tessa Virtue to Winter Formal. 

“I could take you if you want?” 

He expects crickets or a loud shriek of ‘No!’ in answer, so he is pleasantly surprised when she tentatively looks up and says, “Really Scott? You would do that for me?” 

“Of course!! I’d be honoured Tess. I mean I know I can’t drive and I’m not a senior so it might be really embarrassing for you, but if you’d let me, I’d love to take you to Winter Formal.”

And just like that he makes Tessa’s day and her answering smile is the biggest and brightest he’s ever seen, and he really could not be happier. 

“Yes, yes a million times yes, you can take me to Winter Formal.”

Immediately Tessa launches into a tirade about her dress has to match his tie and pocket square (what is a pocket square, does he actually need one?) and how high her heels have to be so she’s not too much taller than him (this particular issue stabs him right in the heart). 

They spend the rest of the morning snacking on Scott’s baking and discussing the logistics of Winter Formal, while Tessa does at least, he mostly just listens intently. 

 

Winter Formal was exactly a week away from the Friday that he’d first asked Tessa to go with him. In those seven days his mom took him to about seven different suit stores before they finally settled on one she deemed acceptable. Scott had naively thought that he would be the most excited to go to the dance with Tessa. He had been a fool. His mother proved him wrong almost immediately, no one was more excited for him to go to Winter Formal with Tessa than Alma Moir, who upon finding out that it was Tessa Virtue he was taking had decided to phone up Tessa’s mom, Kate. Apparently, they were old friends and now Scott has two middle aged moms cheering him on in his endeavours to date Tessa Virtue. He was sure Kate was on his side because she always smiled a little too widely when they occasionally hung out at Tessa’s house when Kate was home. 

He was both thankful and horrified at how overjoyed their moms were. On the one hand it was great that at least someone was rooting for him but on the other having two overzealous moms with a thirst for grandchildren plotting out his entire relationship (grandchildren included) was a bit much at times. Particularly, when he had walked in on them discussing said future grandchildren in detail and going over possible baby names. To say the least he had avoided the moms after that. 

On the Friday night of winter formal Scott spends an hour getting ready, something he has never done before in his life, not even for church on Christmas. He showers using every kind of hair product and body wash he can find, and he comes out smelling of mint and coconut, a mix of his mother’s body wash and his own. He hopes Tessa won’t mind, he wants to smell as fresh and clean as possible for as long as possible, this night will not be ruined by puberty and body odour! Scott even takes time to slick back his hair with his brother’s expensive gel and dabs a bit of cologne onto his wrists. Finally, he dons his suit, complete with a pale green pocket square and nice shiny black shoes. His mother takes an endless number of photos before Charlie is able to distract her and his dad sweeps him off to be driven to Tessa’s house. 

Scott arrives to Tessa’s a half an hour early, hoping to have some time by himself with her before they are swept into the craziness of winter formal. He had expected to find an excited and cheery Tessa who was almost ready and perhaps head over to the nearest Starbucks to caffeinate up for the big night. Unfortunately, he was instead greeted by a beautiful barefoot girl wrapped in flamingo pyjamas and covered in hair curlers and clips with tear tracks streaking down her otherwise perfectly made up face. He was immediately concerned. 

“T, are you okay? What’s wrong?” 

This was clearly the wrong thing to say because the tears turned to full blown sobs. 

“My mom got called away to work and I can’t do my hair Scott, I’m so bad with hair. I can’t even begin to get these curlers out, I tried one, but it got stuck and now I think I’ll have to cut it out of my hair. My makeup is ruined, and my dress still isn’t dry!” Tessa cried out hysterically. His date was clearly on the edge of a hysterical episode, so Scott grabbed her shoulders and held her still, trying to get her to breathe. 

“Just calm down T, it’s all going to be fine okay, you look beautiful, your makeup is great, and I can fix your hair.” 

At his last admission, she gave him a rather dubious look, her sobs turning to hiccups, “Scott don’t lie just to make me feel better, I’m a mess and I know it, I’ll just have to straighten my hair or something boring.” 

“Tessa Virtue how dare you insult your prom date like that. For if I am not Scott Moir of the Moir household with over ten little cousins, many of whom are girls and many of whom demand the hair styling services of myself.”

Tessa begins to laugh despite herself, “There’s no way.” She continues to giggle. 

“Yes way Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir professional hair stylist at your service. I have done thousands of French and Dutch braids alike and even a few crown braids in my time.” 

“You’re lying.” 

“Am not, now get over here kiddo and let’s fix that hair.” Scott says with a grin and begins a lovely loose French braid to delicately fall down her right shoulder. And so, Scott Moir takes it upon himself to play Tessa’s fairy godmother for an hour rather than her winter formal date. 

“Now tell me T, what happened to your dress?” 

 

They arrive to Winter Formal about a half an hour late and if nothing else at least Tessa Virtue looks amazing. Scott hadn’t been lying about his hair skills and after three tide pens and a lot of shout stain remover they had managed to clear the small stain from Tessa’s green dress as well. It is a lovely short velvety green dress with some glittery patterns on it that makes her eyes go KAPOW and makes Tessa look absolutely stunning. He is quite smug about how well the colour matches his pocket square. They take a few pictures at the photobooth and ravenously snatch whatever is left at the snack bar before Tessa drags him onto the dancefloor with a megawatt smile. 

Time passes quickly once they start dancing, it’s as if no one else is around, as if they were made to dance together. Every step with Tessa is so seamless, he can see other couples looking on almost jealously at the clear connection they have. He is oh so happy and so is Tessa it seems, he has yet to see her brilliant smile leave her face. They dip and they twirl and even tango briefly (Tessa leads, and he follows and tries not to step on her toes) before she insists, they need water and leads him back to their shared table where they meet two of Tessa’s good friends, Kaitlyn and Joannie. He takes a quick breather to let Tessa talk to her friends while he converses with a few older teammates who are also at the table. 

Unfortunately, he notices Devon’s presence too late and before he can even try and intervene, he watches sadly as the smile drops right off of Tessa’s face when she finally notices him. Although they do not converse directly, he can see Tessa’s demeanor change quickly, she is no longer happy and carefree but what looks like angry and a little heartbroken. Devon is there with a pretty blonde girl from the grade below him and Scott almost scoffs. Any girl, no matter how pretty is a ridiculous substitute for Tessa Virtue. Scott would almost feel sorry for Devon if he wasn't such a dick. Devon’s presence also brings unwanted whispers from surrounding tables that haven’t forgotten about Tessa and Devon’s brief relationship and Tessa doesn’t take all of the whispering very well. 

Scott watches in horror from his seat where his teammate rambles on about something meaningless as Kaitlyn pulls a hot pink flask from her purse and passes it to Tessa. The action itself wouldn’t be so bad, maybe even normal at a high school function if he didn’t watch Tessa chug the entire flask back in only a few minutes. To say the least he is a little bit concerned. 

He expresses this to her on the dance floor twenty minutes later as she sways a little unsteadily and almost dips herself right onto the floor, “Hey T, are you okay? I saw you drink that whole flask and I just want to make sure you have some water and aren’t hungover tomorrow.” 

“Oh, relax Scott I’m just having fun, now don’t be such a party pooper. Let’s dance!” She replies enthusiastically, smelling of cheap tequila and her signature Tessa perfume. 

“Maybe just try and slow down a bit T, you don’t need that stuff.” 

“Now you’re acting like my mom Scott, seriously relax.” She huffs out looking a bit more forlorn now. He sees her eyes go a bit watery and he thinks he hears her mutter under her breath, ‘or at least how my mom is supposed to act’ before she buries her head in his chest for a slow dance. 

“Alright T, I’m sorry, let’s just have fun.” 

 

The rest of the night goes by without a hitch despite Tessa’s increasing drunkenness. He’s not sure if it’s just hitting her slowly of if someone’s been giving her more alcohol but she continues to get worse as the night continues. She peaks as he’s attempting to take her home. Tessa is now attempting to kiss all of their friends goodbye and has almost fallen too her doom on several occasions. He is reluctantly impressed at drunken Tessa’s ability to somehow maintain her balance in her heels. Eventually he manages to safely get her out to her car but not without a few mishaps along the way. 

There is absolutely no way he’s letting her drive in this condition, so he shoves her into the passenger side of her bug with some difficulty and a lot of protesting before getting into the driver’s side himself. Scott hasn’t exactly been driving a ton in his time with a learner’s permit and technically he is supposed to drive with a chaperone that is much older, more experienced and a lot less drunk than Tessa, but she’ll have to do for tonight. 

Scott goes about fifty the entire ride home, which is probably for the best because Tessa has extended her kissing policy to him now too and keeps trying to reach over for a smooch on the cheek and then giggling when she inevitably topples over. The result is his cheek covered in lipstick kiss marks that he never wants to wash off, probably a few bumps to Tessa’s head and a near miss accident with a fire hydrant. He reaches the Virtue household in one piece with Tessa sound asleep on his shoulder and all he can do is sigh. 

Tessa wakes up groggily as he moves to begins dislodging her from her seat and murmurs softly, ‘Thank you Scott. For everything.” 

He waits a beat to respond staring lovingly down at the wonderful girl in his arms, “I’m going to marry you someday Tess.”

“You’re too good to me Scott.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did we think there friends? I felt the ending was a bit abrupt but in the book they have that kind of exchange and its kind of important I thought so I wanted to throw it in there. Also the love interest in the book is a bit of an alcoholic and its a bit central to the plot so I'm kind of experimenting with it. Not sure If I want to make Tess an alcoholic tho, its not really in her character so we'll see! For the scene where they're getting into the car and driving home feel free to think sixteen candles ahaha because thats all that was running through my mind :P Thanks so much for reading guys!! :D :D :D Also feel free to yell at me at iwanttolaunchmyselfintothesun on tumblr :)


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